Soccer Boy chose this topic and offered to help me to write it. As I could not resist collaboration I took him up on his offer only to find myself struggling at 8 PM on the due date deadline to produce something of interest. As it turned out, he did provide me with a few links, and I am sure he will proof what I have written and tune it up. I think he secretly wanted to gain my perspective on this topic for reasons unknown to me. So I perused Wikipedia and Urban Dictionary and a few other reigious sites trying to find interesting tidbits but really did not succeed in finding anything astonishing, so please forgive if this is a bore. I shall begin with plagerizing to give a brief histroire.

"Now is it bihovely thyng to telle whiche been the sevene deedly synnes, this is to seyn, chiefaynes of synnes. Alle they renne in o lees, but in diverse manneres. Now been they cleped chieftaynes, for as muche as they been chief and spryng of alle othere synnes."
--Geoffrey Chaucer, The Canterbury Tales

According to Sacred Origins of Profound Things, by Charles Panati, Greek monastic theologian, Evagrius of Pontus first drew up a list of eight offenses and wicked human passions:. They were, in order of increasing seriousness: gluttony, lust, avarice, sadness, anger, acedia, vainglory, and pride. Evagrius saw the escalating severity as representing increasing fixation with the self, with pride as the most egregious of the sins. Acedia (from the Greek "akedia," or "not to care") denoted "spiritual sloth."

In the late 6th century, Pope Gregory the Great reduced the list to seven items, folding vainglory into pride, acedia into sadness, and adding envy. His ranking of the Sins' seriousness was based on the degree from which they offended against love. It was, from most serious to least: pride, envy, anger, sadness, avarice, gluttony, and lust. Later theologians, including St. Thomas Aquinas, would contradict the notion that the seriousness of the sins could be ranked in this way. The term "covetousness" has historically been used interchangeably with "avarice" in accounts of the Deadly Sins. In the seventeenth century, the Church replaced the vague sin of "sadness" with sloth.

I have to say, it is a pretty good little list of important no no's. And to limit it to only seven is quite a feat. But as the number seven signfies completeness-seven days in a week, and is the sum of the spiritual 3 plus the material 4, it seems a very good number indeed.

1) Gluttony- excessive eating and drinking. I can't speak for everyone, but I for one struggle with this on a daily if not hourly basis.The animal associated with Gluttony is the Pig, and the color, Orange. The punishment in Hell is to be forced to eat rats, toads and snakes. The contrary virtue is Abstinence, and the modern euphemism is Appetite.

2) Lust- a passionate or overmastering desire or craving; uncontrolled of illicit sexual desire or appetite; lecherousness. I think this sin is highly dependent upon the surrounding environment. The animal associated with Lust is the Cow, and the color, Blue. The punishment in Hell is to be smothered in fire and brimstone. The contrary virtue is Chastity, and the modern euphemism is Libido.

3)Avarice / Greed- insatiable greed for riches; inordinate, miserly desire to gain and hoard wealth. I see it all around. The animal associated with Greed is the Frog, and the color, Yellow. The punishment in Hell is to be put in cauldrons of boiling oil. The contrary virtue is Charity, and the modern euphemism is Enterprise.

4) Wrath / Anger- strong, stern, or fierce anger; deeply resentful indignation; ire. This seems to be the most common of the sins. The animial associated with Anger is the Bear, and the color, Red. The puishment in Hell is to be dismembered alive ( but how can one be "alive if one is already in Hell?) The contrary virtue is Patience and the modern euphemism is Assertiveness.

5) Envy- a feeling of discontent or covetousness with regard to another's advantages, success, possessions, etc. How can we help but experience this? The animal associated with Envy is the Dog, and the color, Green. The puishment in Hell is to be put in freezing water. The contrary virtue is Kindness, and the modern euphemism is Appreciation.

6) Sloth / Discouragement- habitual disinclination to exertion; indolence; laziness. Does procrastination count? I could grow roots on the couch if not for my many obligations. The animal associated with Sloth is the Goat, and the color, Light Blue. The punishment in Hell is to be thrown into snake pits. The contrary virtue is Diligence and the modern euphemism is Stress Management.

7) Pride- a high or inordinate opinion of one's own dignity, importance, merit, or superiority, whether as cherished in the mind or as displayed in bearing, conduct, etc. I think Entitlement should be included with Pride. The animal associated with Pride is the Horse, and the color, Violet. The Punishment in Hell is to be broken on the wheel. The contrary virtue is Humility and the modern euphemism is Self-Esteem.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Seven Social Sins, sometimes called the Seven Blunders of the World, is a list that Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi published in his weekly newspaper Young India on October 22, 1925.[1] Later he gave this same list to his grandson, Arun Gandhi, written on a piece of paper on their final day together shortly before his assassination.[2] The Seven Sins are:

Wealth without work.
Pleasure without conscience.
Knowledge without character.
Commerce without morality.
Science without humanity.
Worship without sacrifice.
Politics without principle.

Another thing to consider is how individual cultures might influence the frequency of sins committed within different groups. I never really pondered this in detail before. For example, in places where women are required by Sharia law to completely cover themselves, do the women experience less pride and the men less lust? In places where there is not a plentiful supply of food do the people exhibit less gluttony because it just is not possible? I can't think of a geographical place that might lend itself to less cumulative anger. Tahiti perhaps? I happened to stumble upon a most interestig article where geographers from Kansas State plotted the 7 deadly sins on a map of the U.S. The darker your county is, the more "sinful" it is. The methodology used to calculate each sin is stated below the map. If you are interested, take a look by clicking here.

And well, that's about all I can muster. Perhaps when he reads what I have thrown together, Soccer Boy will be inspired to add his input and tune this up. Today I have already been guilty of Gluttony, Envy, Pride and Sloth. Oh my. I will need to counter with Abstinence, Kindness, Humility, and Diligence.

SOCCER BOY INSIGHT

The reason why I find this topic so interesting is that a lot of people are aware of what these sins are, and in fact all of us are guilty of committing these sins. In the book of proverbs the list of the seven deadly sins is slightly different, but it stresses how important it is for us to become aware of these pitfalls, and challenges us to be as conscious as we possibly can in realizing when we have committed one of these sins. I truly feel that these are the major things that can cause us to lose ourselves and also greatly damage our relationship with God. Let's go through the list quickly and see what some of the consequences could potentially be when committing any one of these sins in excess. Let's start with Lust, there are individuals that become completely consumed/infatuated with fullfilling sexual desires that torment their mind. They can't focus on anything else until that desire has been fullfilled and will often go to extreme lengths to satisfy their cravings. They lose touch with everything else going on and often take risks that they would usuallly never take. These risks can lead to serious consequences such as DEATH or life in prison. Moving onto one of my personal favorites Gluttony, I feel that this sin for most grows increasingly over the course of your life. A common misconception is that this sin is strictly related with food, but that is not the case. Gluttony has to do with the consumption of anything in such excess that it also causes people to lose sight of what is truly important. This is actually the deadly sin that I am currently battling on a daily basis, and it is not easy to put a stop to it. I personally feel that humans are habitual creatures, and sadly most of us have some bad habits. We make a routine of over consumption, which eventually leads to selfishness and ends with a complete disregard for the well beings of others. Gluttons will also go to extreme lengths to satisfy their cravings and even though they are often aware of the negative consequences that are taking place they consistently choose to make the same decisions time and time again. In the long-run everything catches up to you and by the time you are ready to make a change it almost seems like it is too late. Moving on to another one of my personal favorites Greed, the constant desire to always want MORE. This has more to do with the need for power over those around you. Greedy people also typically lack empathy and compassion and are focused only on obtaining more. The sad part is no matter how much they acquire or obtain their cravings are never satisfied, and what makes matters even worse is that Greedy people have no problem in taking from the less fortunate. They think that by gaining more power or material items that they are actually improving themselves, but the destruction they leave in their wake is almost always what comes back to haunt them. Next is Wrath and this is one that we all have a little experience with. There is definitely a big distinction between the deadly sin of wrath and the emotion of anger. Wrath is the desire to inflict serious pain and suffering on another. No matter what someone has ever done to you violence really never solves the problem. It might make an individual feel better temporarily, but usually the actions they took will haunt them for the rest of their lives. This is a very deadly sin and I think the saying, "What goes around comes around" definitely applies to this sin. I have known a few wrathful people in my life and whenever they lash out on somebody else or inflict pain on somebody else it always seems to come back to them three fold. The next deadly sin is Envy. I used to be the number one offender of this sin. Even at a very young age I coveted things that others had, and was always trying to keep score in order to ensure that I was getting my fair share. Envy can make individuals do extreme things if it is not dealt with. I was actually able to conquer this sin by "letting go." I found that I became increasingly stressed and discontent with my life when I was always worrying about what everyone else had instead of enjoying the things that I had. One day I realized that my life is pretty good and if I just focus on improving myself the things I desire will eventually come to me. Next is Sloth, and this really is referring to a complete lack of desire to live life. It is more then just simple laziness. A person who exhibits sloth is somebody who has responsibilities and obligations, but instead chooses to do nothing. Consequently, this mindset and lack of ambition will cause a ton of damage to both yourself and those around you. Last but definitely not least is the number one deadly Sin. This is actually the first sin ever recorded and supposedly is the spawning point from which all other sins stem from. The reason why this is considered the first sin is because it existed before man ever even walked the earth. This is the sin Lucifer committed and is the reason why God decided to cast him down from the heavens. Pride is something more than arrogance. It is really thinking that you are better than God and having a sense of invincibility. The sad part about prideful people is that they usually aren't even aware of any problems until something major happens and changes their lives forever. It is important to remember to always display humility, and never forget that you are a child of God. I hope my insight is able to provide you with a little bit of guidance and remember the first step is becoming conscious of your actions and the second step is making changes to correct your flaws, improve yourself, and improve your relationship with God.

Happy Labor Day. I hope you all got to be lazy gluttons and are not envious of the delicious BBQ Rib feast Hansome Hubby prepared while I dallied about penning this Muse. :-)

***I am so glad Soccer Boy returned home just prior to my posting and was able to add his insight which I think is excellent!

Recipe provided by Henry Zenger a dear darling friend.

Chinese Eggplant

Ingredients:

3-4 Chinese Eggplants

1 handful of fresh Basil

5 tablespoons of good quality vegetable oil

2 tablespoons Oyster Sauce

5 cloves of garlic, minced

Cayenne to taste

Salt to taste

Directions:

1) Cut the eggplants in 1/2 inch diagonal rounds

2) Steam for 10 minutes

3) Heat the pan and add the garlic to toast until aromatic.

4) Add the oil to the pan with the garlic, add the cooled eggplant and gently stir until most of the oil absorbs into the eggplant.Add the basil, then the salt and cayenne, gently stir, add the oyster sauce gently stir for about 1 minute and then enjoy.

Quotes:

There are seven sins in the world: Wealth without work, Pleasure without conscience, Knowledge without character, Commerce without morality, Science without humanity, Worship without sacrifice and politics without principle.
Mahatma Gandhi

***

Vices are character traits. Sins are specific acts of commission or omission. Once Judaism and Christianity adopted the concepts of vice and virtue from the Greekand Roman moralists, vices were often called sins and sins vices. The seven deadly sins are also called the deadly vices, which is ore accurate. They are basicm perhaps universal human tendencies from which sins result. The vice of anger spawns the sin of violence against others and the vice of greed gives birth to the sin of theft.

Solomon Schimmel

***

Gluttony and lust are the only two sins that abuse something that is essential to our survival. Henry Fairlie

***

The foundation of humility is truth. The humble man sees himself as he is. If his depreciation of himself were untrue, it would not be praiseworthy, and would be a form of hypocrisy, which is one of the evils of pPride. The man who is falsely humble, we know from our own experience, is one who is falsely proud.

Henry Fairlie

***

***

PRIDE

The Braggart and The Wheelbarrow

The strong young man at the construction site was bragging that he could outdo anyone in a feat of strength. He made a special case of making fun of one of the older workmen. After several minutes, the older worker had had enough.

"Why don't you put your money where your mouth is," he said. "I'll bet a week's wages that I can haul something in a wheelbarrow over to that outbuilding that you won't be able to wheel back."

"You're on, old man," the braggart replied. "Let's see what you got."

The old man reached out and grabbed the wheelbarrow by the handles. Then, nodding to the young man, he said with a smile, "All right. Get in."

The preacher was teaching the adult Sunday school class, and he was enthusiastically telling about Solomon and his seven hundred wives
and three hundred concubines, and then for good measure, he threw in
that he "fed them on ambrosia."

"Never mind that," said a little man who was intrigued with the story, "what did HE eat?"

***

AVARICE

The Millionaire

At a church meeting a very wealthy man rose to tell the rest of those present about his Christian faith.

"I'm a millionaire," he said, "and I attribute it all to the rich blessings of God in my life. I remember that turning point in my faith. I had just earned my first dollar and I went to a church meeting that night. The speaker was a missionary who told about his work. I knew that I only had a dollar bill and had to either give it all to God's work or nothing at all. So at that moment I decided to give my whole dollar to God. I believe that God blessed that decision, and that is why I am a rich man today."

He finished and there was an awed silence at his testimony as he moved toward his seat.

As he sat down a little old lady sitting in the same pew leaned over and said to him: "I dare you to do it again."

Penney Rahm
a friend of Jesus
Penneyr@prodigy.net

***

GLUTTONY

The Diet

A woman was terribly overweight, so her doctor put her on a diet.

"I want you to eat regularly for 2 days, then skip a day, and repeat this procedure for 2 weeks. The next time I see you, you'll have lost at least 5 pounds."

When the woman returned, she shocked the doctor by losing nearly 20 pounds.

As the crowded airliner is about to take off, the peace is shattered by a five-year-old boy who picks that moment to throw a wild temper tantrum. No matter what his frustrated, embarrassed mother does to try to calm him down, the boy continues to scream furiously and kick the seats around him.

Suddenly, from the rear of the plane, an elderly man in the uniform of an Air Force General is seen slowly walking forward up the aisle. Stopping the flustered mother with an upraised hand, the white-haired, courtly, soft-spoken General leans down and, motioning toward his chest, whispers something into the boy's ear.

Instantly, the boy calms down, gently takes his mother's hand, and quietly fastens his seat belt. All the other passengers burst into spontaneous applause. As the General slowly makes his way back to his seat, one of the cabin attendants touches his sleeve.

"Excuse me, General," she asks quietly, "but could I ask you what magic words you used on that little boy?"

The old man smiles serenely and gently confides, "I showed him my pilot's wings, service stars, and battle ribbons, and explained that they entitle me to throw one passenger out the plane door, on any flight I choose."

***

SLOTH

A guy goes to a girl's house for the first time, and she shows him into the living room. She excuses herself to go to the kitchen to make them a few drinks, and as he's standing there alone, he notices a cute little vase on the mantel.
He picks it up, and as he's looking at it, she walks back in. He says "What's this?"
She says, "Oh, my father's ashes are in there."
He goes, "Geez...oooh....I..."
She says, "Yeah, he's too lazy to go to the kitchen to get an ashtray."

Lust, or lechery (carnal "luxuria") is an intense desire. Lust could be exemplified by the intense desire of money, food, fame, power or sex.

In Dante's Purgatorio, the penitent walks within flames to purge himself of lustful thoughts and feelings. In Dante's Inferno, unforgiven souls of the sin of lust are blown about in restless hurricane-like winds symbolic of their own lack of self-control to their lustful passions in earthly life.

***

Lust, or lechery (carnal "luxuria") is an intense desire. Lust could be exemplified by the intense desire of money, food, fame, power or sex.

In Dante's Purgatorio, the penitent walks within flames to purge himself of lustful thoughts and feelings. In Dante's Inferno, unforgiven souls of the sin of lust are blown about in restless hurricane-like winds symbolic of their own lack of self-control to their lustful passions in earthly life.

***

Gluttony.Derived from the Latin gluttire, meaning to gulp down or swallow, gluttony (Latin, gula) is the over-indulgence and over-consumption of anything to the point of waste.

In Christianity, it is considered a sin if the excessive desire for food causes it to be withheld from the needy.[14]

Because of these scripts, gluttony can be interpreted as selfishness; essentially placing concern with one's own interests above the well-being or interests of others.

Medieval church leaders (e.g., Thomas Aquinas) took a more expansive view of gluttony,[14] arguing that it could also include an obsessive anticipation of meals, and the constant eating of delicacies and excessively costly foods.[15] Aquinas went so far as to prepare a list of six ways to commit gluttony, comprising:

Greed (Latin, avaritia), also known as avarice, cupidity or covetousness, is, like lust and gluttony, a sin of excess. However, greed (as seen by the church) is applied to a very excessive or rapacious desire and pursuit of material possessions. Thomas Aquinas wrote, "Greed is a sin against God, just as all mortal sins, in as much as man condemns things eternal for the sake of temporal things." In Dante's Purgatory, the penitents were bound and laid face down on the ground for having concentrated too much on earthly thoughts. Scavenging[citation needed] and hoarding of materials or objects, theft and robbery, especially by means of violence, trickery, or manipulation of authority are all actions that may be inspired by Greed. Such misdeeds can include simony, where one attempts to purchase or sell sacraments, including Holy Orders and, therefore, positions of authority in the Church hierarchy.

As defined outside of Christian writings, greed is an inordinate desire to acquire or possess more than one needs, especially with respect to material wealth.

***

Sloth (Latin, acedia) can entail different vices. While sloth is sometimes defined as physical laziness, spiritual laziness is emphasized. Failing to develop spiritually is key to becoming guilty of sloth. In the Christian faith, sloth rejects grace and God.

Sloth has also been defined as a failure to do things that one should do. By this definition, evil exists when good men fail to act.

Edmund Burke (1729-1797) wrote in Present Discontents (II. 78) "No man, who is not inflamed by vain-glory into enthusiasm, can flatter himself that his single, unsupported, desultory, unsystematic endeavours are of power to defeat the subtle designs and united Cabals of ambitious citizens. When bad men combine, the good must associate; else they will fall, one by one, an unpitied sacrifice in a contemptible struggle."

Sloth. Over time, the "acedia" in Pope Gregory's order has come to be closer in meaning to sloth. The focus came to be on the consequences of acedia rather than the cause, and so, by the 17th century, the exact deadly sin referred to was believed to be the failure to utilize one's talents and gifts. Even in Dante's time there were signs of this change; in his Purgatorio he had portrayed the penance for acedia as running continuously at top speed.

***

Wrath (Latin, ira), also known as "rage", may be described as inordinate and uncontrolled feelings of hatred and anger. Wrath, in its purest form, presents with self-destructiveness, violence, and hate that may provoke feuds that can go on for centuries. Wrath may persist long after the person who did another a grievous wrong is dead. Feelings of anger can manifest in different ways, including impatience, revenge, and self-destructive behavior, such as drug abuse or suicide.

Wrath is the only sin not necessarily associated with selfishness or self-interest, although one can of course be wrathful for selfish reasons, such as jealousy (closely related to the sin of envy). Dante described vengeance as "love of justice perverted to revenge and spite". In its original form, the sin of wrath also encompassed anger pointed internally as well as externally. Thus suicide was deemed as the ultimate, albeit tragic, expression of hatred directed inwardly, a final rejection of God's gifts.

***

Envy. Like greed and lust, Envy (Latin, invidia) is characterized by an insatiable desire. Envy is similar to jealousy in that they both feel discontent towards someone's traits, status, abilities, or rewards. The difference is the envious also desire the entity and covet it.

Envy can be directly related to the Ten Commandments, specifically, "Neither shall you desire... anything that belongs to your neighbour." Dante defined this as "a desire to deprive other men of theirs". In Dante's Purgatory, the punishment for the envious is to have their eyes sewn shut with wire because they have gained sinful pleasure from seeing others brought low. Aquinas described envy as "sorrow for another's good"

***

Pride. In almost every list, pride (Latin, superbia), or hubris (Greek), is considered the original and most serious of the seven deadly sins, and the source of the others. It is identified as believing that one is essentially better than others, failing to acknowledge the accomplishments of others, and excessive admiration of the personal self (especially holding self out of proper position toward God). Dante's definition was "love of self perverted to hatred and contempt for one's neighbour". In Jacob Bidermann's medieval miracle play, Cenodoxus, pride is the deadliest of all the sins and leads directly to the damnation of the titulary famed Parisian doctor. In perhaps the best-known example, the story of Lucifer, pride (his desire to compete with God) was what caused his fall from Heaven, and his resultant transformation into Satan. In Dante's Divine Comedy, the penitents are burdened with stone slabs on their necks which force them to keep their heads bowed.